Job Description
Service Development Manager
Job Summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Service Development Manager to join the Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation (OTDT) Commissioning and Service Development team within NHS Blood and Transplant. The post holder will lead the delivery of complex national service development programmes aligned to the Organ Donation and Transplantation 2030: Meeting the Need Strategy, including National Organ Retrieval Service (NORS) developments.
Working closely with senior clinical and operational leaders (both internally and externally), the role will provide strategic and operational leadership across multi‑disciplinary projects, ensuring effective planning, stakeholder engagement, governance, performance monitoring and delivery of agreed outcomes. The post holder will operate with a high level of autonomy, influencing at senior level, managing competing priorities, and providing expert input to support the future capacity, capability and sustainability of organ donation and retrieval services.
Main duties of the job
Your main role and responsibilities will include:
•Acting as a member of the Commissioning and Service Development Team has responsibility to work with Assistant Director – UK Commissioning and Service Development, Associate Medical Director (Retrieval), Associate Clinical Lead Organ Retrieval, Head of Transplant Development and other senior staff within the OTDT Directorate to ensure the delivery of outputs aligned within the strategic and business objectives within the SCORE Programme (Retrieval Technology), managing these outputs to timely and successful conclusions and implementation.
•There will be considerable autonomy and responsibility for specific projects and initiatives associated with the Organ Donation and Transplantation 2030: Meeting the Need Strategy and developments within redesigning and future proofing capacity and capability within NORS (National Organ Retrieval Service). The post holder must exercise a high degree of independent judgement and initiative, be able to work under pressure and can prioritise their own workload.
•You will respond to requests for advice / involvement with problem solving situations that arise from the development of initiatives and projects supporting the delivery of the Strategy.
•You will be accountable for ensuring the delivery of initiatives, projects, and specific tasks as they arise and will be seen to be credible and possess and in-depth knowledge and understanding of Service Development and an understanding of organ donation and retrieval services.
•You will work closely with the Assistant Director – UK Commissioning and Service Development, Head of Service Development and chair of the ANRP Steering Group to deliver the key deliverables in the SCORE Programme: relating to Retrieval Technology: initially leading the defining, planning and implementation of the roll out of the Abdominal Regional Normothermic Perfusion (ANRP) Business Case, ensuring that all strands of work are aligned.
•You will also ensure that there is accurate and open communication and co-ordination with a range of organisations and individuals; considering appropriate language and methods of communication should they experience resistance. They will also undertake regular research, drafting correspondence and papers and ensure the management of specific tasks, lead reporting and analysis across a range of specialties, functions, and projects.
•You will be required to identify and undertake work on their own initiative, handle competing workload demands working independently.
•To succeed in this role, you will need to develop working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, engaging with them to support the achievement of objectives, ensuring accountability to performance measures in a range of projects.
About You
Experience and Knowledge
- Significant experience of successfully working in a politically sensitive environment.
- Experience of managing change and influencing medical consultant staff.
- Broad understanding of the NHS and wider healthcare community.
Qualifications and Training
- Project Management qualification or / and experience.
- Awareness of current professional issues and developments within organ donation, and the NHS.
- Qualification in management (ie Master’s degree or equivalent clinical qualification Alternatively, significant work experience at a similar level providing expert knowledge in subject field.
- Demonstrate commitment to own Continued Professional Development (CPD).
About Us
It takes all types of people to deliver the kind of service that saves and improves lives. At NHS Blood and Transplant, you’ll join a team of more than 6,000 people who are making a genuine difference to communities, families, friends, relatives and more across the UK. We play a unique and special role in the NHS by helping people do something extraordinary- donate blood, blood products, organs, tissues, or stem cells to save someone in need.
Our three core values are what set us apart. They guide and inspire everything we do. By being caring, expertly meeting the needs of our patients and our people, and accepting nothing less than the best quality, we can do extraordinary work – and help our people to do something extraordinary in their career, too. Three small words, one big difference - Caring, Expert and Quality. Together we'll save and improve more lives than ever.
You will join us on our journey to create an inclusive workplace and aim to reflect the diverse communities we work with, and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.
What we offer:
- Hybrid working arrangements – because NHSBT works nationally, we’re able to offer hybrid working options that give you more flexibility to balance work with life.
- Flexible working options – we promote flexible working where the role allows. We’re happy to discuss what flexibility might look like for you.
- Generous annual leave - 27 days annual leave (pro rata for part-time) plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 29 days after 5 years’ service and to 33 days after 10 years.
- Inclusive pension scheme - the NHS Pension Scheme is a defined benefit scheme (not dependent on investment returns). Further details and outline of benefits can be found at: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/information-about-nhs-pensions
- Supportive learning culture - we’ve fostered a culture of continuous learning where colleagues are well-led, engaged, and encouraged to grow. We support you in reaching your full potential, both in your current role and future career. Our Thrive program embodies our commitment to learning and development, offering a wide range of activities to support your personal and professional growth. It’s open to everyone at NHSBT, ensuring you have the resources to succeed and shine in your role.
- Health and wellbeing support – we offer confidential services including occupational health, employee assistance programme, and wellbeing resources. Our support is available to all colleagues and we endeavour to provide tailored workplace adjustments where possible.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applications from disabled candidates. We will talk with you to explore any adjustments that may help you during the recruitment process.
You can find more information about accessibility, our culture, and how we support applicants on the NHSBT Careers website:
To learn more, please see the job description and person specification. These can be accessed via the link below, or by clicking ‘Apply’ if you are viewing this advert on another site.
Next steps
This vacancy will close at 23:59 on Monday 25th May 2026.
The assessment process for this role will include: a single interview with a presentation task to prepare. Interviews are anticipated to be held on 10th/11th June 2026 – subject to confirmation.
For informal enquiries please contact –
Name: Charlotte Walker
Job Title: Recruitment Lead
Contact Details: charlotte.walker@nhsbt.nhs.uk
